There are a few different ways to shift the tone of a deep blue color to be more green. The most common methods involve adding yellow, decreasing the blue pigment, or adding a green tint.
Adding Yellow
On the color wheel, blue and yellow are complementary colors across from each other. Adding yellow is one of the simplest ways to make a blue greener. When blended together, blue and yellow make green. The more yellow you add to the blue, the more green the resulting color will become.
This technique works well with paints, dyes, and other pigmented mediums. Start with a deep blue base and mix in increasing amounts of yellow until you achieve the green shade desired. Primary yellow works best, but other warm yellow tones will also shift a blue toward green.
The exact ratio needed will depend on the starting shades of blue and yellow. A deep navy blue will need more yellow mixed in compared to a medium or light blue. Test out small sample mixes to see the results before applying to a larger project.
Decreasing Blue Pigment
Rather than adding yellow, you can also make a blue greener by reducing the amount of blue pigment used. Imagine starting with a very deep navy blue and gradually adding more white to lighten the shade. As you add white, the blue becomes lighter and takes on a slight greenish teal tone.
This approach is simple and requires no other colorants besides blue and white. The starting blue shade will determine how much green is visible after lightening. Dark blues naturally have a subtle green tint when made lighter. Medium blues may end up more sky blue.
You can use this method with any paint or pigment that has a blue base. Acrylic, watercolor, poster paints, fabric dyes, food coloring, and more can all be lightened from blue to greenish blue by diluting with white.
Adding Green
For the most direct color shift, you can also mix blue with green paint, dye, ink or pigment to create a blue-green teal shade. Start with the blue and add a small amount of green, testing as you mix until the desired hue is reached.
Forest greens, mint greens and yellow-based greens will work best to accentuate the green tones. Blue-greens like viridian may end up just darkening the starting blue color rather than making it clearly greenish.
The green and blue should be similar in tone and intensity for ideal blending. A bright lime green may overpower a light sky blue, for example. Balancing the shades will help them combine more evenly into a blue-green.
Tinting with Green
For transparent paint mediums like inks, dyes, and watercolors, you can make a blue greener by applying it as a tint over a white or green surface. The underlying color will show through and merge with the blue to shift it towards green.
Start with white paper or fabric as a base. Apply a translucent blue wash or glaze, allowing some of the white surface below to be visible. The blue will take on a greenish cast as the white reflects through it.
Using a light green base will result in an even stronger green shift. The blue glaze will mix optically with the subtle green to create a vivid blue-green teal result.
This techniques works best for making a lighter blue greener. Dark opaque blues will overpower the base color below. Sheer layers of blue ink, dye, or watercolor work best for green tinting.
Using Cool White Mixing Colors
When mixing colors, you can also make blue paint greener by using a cool white instead of pure white. Many brands sell a titanium white, zinc white, or other cool white that retains a very subtle blue/green bias compared to warm white.
Mixing a cool white with blue will result in a blue-green leaning shade compared to mixing with warm white. Start with a blue closest to the desired hue and lighten with small amounts of cool white until you achieve both the value and green shift needed.
This approach works for any paint that uses white as a mixing color. The white itself looks neutral but will cause colors blended with it to take on a cooler or greener look.
Using a Green Undertone Primer
For household paint projects, choosing a primer with a green undertone can make the blue topcoat appear more green. Green-tinted primers are commonly used when painting walls light blue to give the blue a pleasant greenish cast.
The blue paint will interact with the subtle green primer underneath, picking up some of the green tones to become teal. This prevents the blue from looking too cold and icy.
Select a pale sage, moss, or seafoam green primer color that matches the desired blue-green undertone. Allow it to fully dry before painting the deep blue color on top. The finished effect will read as a richer, more complex blue-green.
Adjusting Color Balance Digitally
For digital projects and designs, you can make blues greener by adjusting the color balance and channel mix. In image editing and design software, blues can be made more green by increasing the green channel levels relative to blue.
The change can be applied across the whole image for an overall color shift. You can also selectively adjust specific blue areas to make them teal or aqua while leaving other colors unchanged.
Increasing green while decreasing blue channel levels is the key. Careful tweaking of the balance will allow you to create any shade of blue-green needed. Let the color channels preview be your guide.
Using Camera Color Filters
When photographing subjects that are blue, camera lens filters can be used to alter the blue color toward green in the resulting image.
A traditional color compensating filter adds green to neutralize and tone down the blue. But specialized corrective and effects filters are designed specifically to shift blues toward aqua and teal shades.
These filters work by blocking some blue light from reaching the camera sensor while allowing more green and yellow wavelengths to pass through. The effect can dramatize and enhance blue-green colors.
Filters come in different strengths for subtle to dramatic color shifts. They screw onto the end of the lens. Combining filters allows even more control over the blue-green transformation.
Choosing Green-Biased Blue Pigments
With paints, dyes, and inks, you can also generate blue-greens by carefully selecting pigments that inherently lean toward teal. Rather than shift an existing blue, start with a pigment that is already slightly green.
Common greenish blue pigments include phthalocyanine, anthraquinone, and triphenylmethane dyes and pigments. Each has unique green-blue characteristics.
Phthalocyanine blues like phthalo blue have an intense teal tone. Anthraquinones are brighter and more turquoise leaning. Triphenylmethanes are dark, almost blackened blue-greens.
Each pigment will mix differently with other colors. Getting to know the subtle properties of blues that contain hints of green can help achieve the exact aqua green blue needed.
Using Blue Food Coloring
An easy way to make blue-green colors for baking, candy making, and other food use is to tint white icing or batter with standard blue food coloring.
Food coloring liquids and gels are designed to be very vibrant. When added sparingly to light colored desserts, the intense dye tints them with a very strong teal green-blue cast.
Start with white icing, fondant, marzipan, or cake batter. Add a single drop of blue and mix thoroughly to evenly disperse the color. Continue adding drops until the teal intensity needed is achieved.
Blue food dye can also be combined with yellow for a more natural green-blue result. Adjust the ratio until you reach the perfect balance of blue and green tones.
Combining Dyes
For textile projects using fabric dyes, you can blend separate blue and green dyes to create customized blue-green shades. Mixing complementary dyes allows for endless variation.
Start by dyeing separate test swatches of fabric or yarn in pure blue and green dyes. Then overdye a new sample with varying ratios of the blue and green to achieve different hues.
For a more teal green-leaning result, start with more green dyed fabric and overdye with less blue. For deeper aqua shades, reverse the ratios. Combining blue and green fiber reactive, acid, or disperse dyes offers the greatest flexibility.
Using Layered Glazes
With ceramics and glass, transparent colored glazes can be layered or blended to mix optical blues and greens. Starting with blue and adding a green glaze over the top will make the finish appear blue-green.
The color and intensity of the base glaze will impact the final result. Deep cobalt blue with an emerald green glaze will yield a different effect than layering a turquoise blue with a lime green.
Additionally, the layering order can be reversed. A green base glaze with a blue top glaze results in a more greenish blue depending on the ratio of the two colors used.
Conclusion
Deep blues can be shifted toward greens and teals through clever color mixing and optical techniques. Adding yellows, reducing blue pigment amounts, mixing with greens, and using tints, toned whites, primers, or biased pigments are all ways to manipulate the blue color in a green direction.
With an understanding of color theory and paint/pigment properties, you can gradually alter any blue from pure to aqua simply by controlling the balance of blue and green influences present.
Mastering ways to fine tune a color along the blue-green spectrum allows you to achieve precisely the magical teal shades you imagine for any project or medium.